Sokoudjou, Set His Sights On Shogun

In a recent interview with FightHype, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou calls out former PRIDE fighter Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, going so far as to say he has been ducking him for years.

Sokoudjou is coming off a TKO victory over Kazuhiro Nakamura at UFC 84 “Ill Will. He also holds a win over current UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s little bro Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

PC: I know you've been telling me that you want to fight Shogun since the Pride days. You called him out again after your UFC 84 fight. Is this a fight that you hope they put together?

TS: Yeah, I would love to fight that guy. I've tried to fight him ever since I fought in PRIDE and he's been ducking me. Shogun has been ducking me since the PRIDE days. Shogun's camp told me that to fight him, I had to fight Cyborg first. I told them I want to fight Shogun, not Cyborg, and then Pride went away and now he's in the UFC and he hasn't fought for a minute. I know he got injured for his last fight, but I think by the time I'm ready to fight again, hopefully he should be ready and will take the fight.

PC: I can already tell you what people are going to say. What would you do when Shogun gets you on the ground?

TS: Good luck to him trying to get me to the ground. I got my ass kicked once on the ground so you think I just went home and didn't do anything on the ground? I spent hours and hours fighting off of my back.